October 3, 2011/Fall 2011
African Diaspora & The World (SADW 111-05)
Shaping my Diaspora Consciousness vs. Society
An old saying about the African American slave trade still circulates amongst us today: "they set us 'free' while keeping us enslaved." After the abolishment of physical slavery, the self-esteem and sense of identity of many African Americans remained in the hands of the dominant race. Their tools of malice and control transitioned from whips and legislation to social stigmas and stereotypes. The social stigmas and stereotypes formed are the concepts of identity, race and gender. As notions of equality grew more popular, the malice diminished but the social stigmas and stereotypes remained. To deny their influence on the shaping of my identity would be equivalent to denying the slave trade's existence. Despite the relevance of both in today's society, both are starting to fade away into the thick cloud of historical amnesia that tends to grasp the minds of every American generation. In order to ensure that the lesson’s learned, and to be learned from both remain, it is imperative that such topics be discussed and evaluated. Identity is a complex shaped by individual characteristics. Gender is however a group defined by masculinity and femininity, the attributes attached to being born male or female. Race is framed by social relations and historical context. All social conceptions formed by social construction. People don’t have an understanding of how society operates because of their environment.
What is needed now, they were saying, is no longer an education faithfully dedicated to a critical understanding of the world, but an education strictly devoted to the technical training of a labor force (Freire 31). Before the African American slave trade race discrimination did not exist. In 1619 when blacks first were brought, religion and wealth were how people were classified. Slavery became set as a law, and then they began distinguishing between black and whites. When people began to see this racial divide as natural, then it became the definition of race. With the establishment of the slave trade came stereotypes and social stigmas about African Americans. The stereotypes and social stigmas created during those times lived on to today and have created obstacles that I have had to overcome. During my high school years I was a part of a golf team, Golf is so called considered a white man’s sport. I was criticized by my teammates who were all Caucasian males, because of my race and my gender .My skills were never recognized. They never looked at me based on my skills or drive to play the game, all they ever seen was color and that I was a female. They use to refer me as “tiger hood” because of my race. African Americans are ashamed every day in society as a people in a picture society has created for African Americans to be. Assumptions about women and women’s place in society and silence about the reality of gender-defining institutions, by which is meant a broad array of cultural or societal beliefs(Guy-Shefttall 93).
African American’s embrace these same stereotypes and social stigmas that whites have put in place to use against other African Americans. Like the texture of our hair or the darkness of our skin complection. I have faced a lot of harassment and denial from fellow African Americans for my “nappy” hair, dark skin, and other non-Caucasian features. Which this takes us back to the reading of The Complexity of Identity: “Who Am I?” Concept of identity is a complex one, shaped by individual characteristics, family dynamics, historical factors, and social and political contexts (Tatum 105). Knowing who you are and where you come from and knowing where you belong as an African American female or male. Societies never bothered to research and actually know where we as people, African American people at that, come from; we just accept what people tell us instead of researching and knowing our history accepting this identity they have placed for us. The master over slave mentality remains in society: the white American culture serves as the norm and the African American culture is looked down on. Because of this, in order for me to seem “professional” or “mature” or “lady-like” a lot of characteristics that are natural at home must be abandoned when in a professional setting. This has led to a duality in my characteristics. There is a certain way I act at home, and a ‘better’ way I act outside of home. For example, Blacks have historically been characterized as less intelligent than Whites, and women have been viewed as less emotionally stable than men. The dominant group assigns roles to the subordinate that reflect the latter’s devalued status, reserving the most highly valued roles in the society for themselves (Tatum 109). We struggle together with black men against racism, while at the same time we struggle with sexism also. As women we have always been planted a role in society. Our roles are to take care of home while the men are the bread winner of the family. We were all born equally but due to the beliefs of society we are all not viewed equally. Gender is a social construction, which privilege men to be at a higher power than women.
In conclusion our identity, race and gender are our social concepts. Our diaspora consciousness is being molded by how society thinks and how society works. Since society oppresses minorities such as African Americans, that consciousness is limited to the defining characteristics of minorities implemented by the white society, also limiting the thrive and dispersal of African Americans as a whole here in the United States. We all process our options and thoughts based on looks and actions. We never even bother to analyze things before we make an option based upon anything that is really happening in society. We go by others thoughts and not our own. So no matter how diverse you feel you are, you are still suppressed because of society. History revolves around how society is constructed socially, and society’s construction can indirectly but effectively restrain the development and acceptance of African American people.
